Drop on demand ink jet technology is widely used in the printing industry. Printers using drop on demand ink jet print heads can include the use of thermal ink jet technology, piezoelectric technology, or electrostatic technology. Each of these technologies include the ejection of ink drops from a plurality of nozzles within a nozzle plate.
Damage to the print heads, and more particularly the nozzle plate, can result from physical contact with other objects, including the print medium receiving the ink drops. For example, a print medium such as a paper sheet or other types of porous hydrophilic substrates can curl from absorption of ambient moisture, from improper storage or loading, or from moisture incurred from marking the sheet with aqueous ink. As the curled leading edge of the print medium enters the print area, the print medium can contact and damage the nozzle plate. Depending on the printer, replacement of a damaged print head is very expensive resulting from the cost of the print head itself, downtime of the printer, and labor costs incurred during replacement and/or repair.
A structure that reduces or eliminates damage to print heads from contact with the print medium or other structure would be desirable.